


mending

by tusktooth



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Injury, Injury Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23049385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusktooth/pseuds/tusktooth
Summary: After Kate gets hurt on a mission, it's America's job to take care of her and, as much as she loves her girlfriend, sometimes she can be slightly (or extremely) needy.
Relationships: Kate Bishop/America Chavez
Comments: 9
Kudos: 47
Collections: Marvel Trumps Hate 2019





	mending

**Author's Note:**

> I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!!  
> I've been working on this fic for AGES but I just got so caught up in school but it's finally done. Anyway I love these girls and I loved writing this!!!  
> thanks so much to [wombatking](http://wombatking.tumblr.com/) for making this possible! I loved your prompt and I hope I did justice to it!!!  
> [you can find me on tumblr here!!!](http://tdeckers.tumblr.com/)

As far as missions go, this certainly wasn’t the craziest one America had been on. After fighting your own mothers turned evil, there really wasn’t much that took you by surprise anymore.

There was no denying, though, that this mission was kind of  _ bizarre _ . America had never expected her Saturday night, during which she was originally supposed to go to some swanky restaurant in the West Village with Kate for their six-month anniversary. Instead, they were about an hour outside the city, chasing animatronic Chuck-e-Cheese robots gone evil through the suburban streets. Unfortunately, the chase didn’t seem like it would be ending anytime soon so there was absolutely no way that they’d make their 6:30 reservation and it wasn’t the type of place where you could just up and move the time because you were chasing evil furry robots which, by the way, was kind of a terrible experience. These things were  _ fast _ and also shot lasers from their eyes. All she could do was hope that they caught up to them soon and that there would still be time to hit up a taco truck after they got back into the city later. That was more her speed anyway.

“I’m going to go up. Get a vantage point and hopefully a better shot,” Kate told America, pointing ahead to a rickety fire escape on a building nearby.

She shook her head. “Not stable. I’ll fly you up. Or you can ask Teddy to.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll be fine. We need the two of you on the ground anyway. I’m better at a range but we need the two of you to catch up and do some punching.”

America sighed but charged forward faster than before. Her girlfriend was about half as stubborn as she was, which meant there was going to be no changing her mind, especially in a tense mission setting. Besides, she trusted her judgment. If climbing the fire escape was how Kate was going to work best, then who was she to stop her?

She was gaining on them now, determined to take down this duck if it was the last thing she did but, just as she landed the first punch, she heard a familiar voice yell “SHIT!” Followed by a sickening crunching sound.

America whipped around with wide eyes only to find Kate sitting on the ground and gritting her teeth as she clutched her leg.

“You have  _ got  _ to be kidding me,” America grumbled, moving to step toward Kate before a fluffy robotic arm pulled her back and she remembered where she was.

She jammed an elbow into the machine’s nonexistent gut so it would loosen its hold on her. Quickly pivoting, she kicked the robot to the ground and then continued to kick it until it wasn’t moving any longer. Nobody and nothing was going to keep her from her injured girlfriend.

When she finally got to her, she stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. Now, she wasn’t exactly a doctor, but she was fairly certain that the human ankle was  _ not  _ supposed to bend like that.

“I’m flying you to the hospital. Now,” she announced scooping her squirming girlfriend into her arms.

She shook her head. “I’m fine. The mission comes first,” she managed to say through grinding teeth.

“This isn’t negotiable, Kate. You’re hurt,” she replied. “The others can handle this.”

Taking off from the ground, America shot into the sky, getting Teddy’s attention on the way out and yelling “Hospital!”

He looked at Kate, prone and pouting in her arms, and nodded, giving her a thumbs up. The others had the mission handled without them. The safety of the team was always their top priority.

Together, they zoomed through the sky in search of the nearest hospital they could find.

* * *

As it turned out, it wasn’t the fire escape that had done Kate in, but her attempt to leap between two buildings despite having no super jumping capabilities. She had fallen short and, though it was only a two-story fall, she had landed awkwardly on her ankle. America was just grateful that this was a move that Kate had decided to attempt in the suburbs rather than in the center of New York City where a fall like that would be from a greater height and would most certainly be deadly.

Her two-story fall had resulted in just a simple fracture which wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, even if Kate was complaining as if her entire career as a superhero was over. Really, she just had to wear a cast for a few weeks and then switch to a boot. She would be back in the field in less than two months.

And, while America had never considered herself to be much of a caretaker, she enjoyed it at first. Making her girlfriend comfortable amongst the pain meds was rewarding beyond all the kisses. It felt good to help out someone she loved.

But it got old quickly because, as it turned out, Kate was fucking  _ needy _ when she was injured. It was one thing to make her coffee in the mornings and grab her pain medicine for her when it hurt too bad to get up. It was another thing altogether when Kate was yelling and yelling for attention like something was wrong when she just needed the TV remote, which was only on the nightstand on the other side of the couch that she was _ sitting on _ .

And then there was the fact that it happened time after time every single day. She was getting sick of this.

“Babe!” Kate called from the other room while America was attempting to get some much-needed rest after a strenuous mission. “ _ Baaaaabe _ .”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she grumbled to herself as she got out of bed and stormed into the living room. “What is it? What do you  _ need _ ?!”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Somebody’s in a mood. Mission gone wrong?”

She let out a sigh and ran a hand over her face. “Yes and no. We stopped them, it just took a lot longer than I had hoped and I’m absolutely exhausted. I need a nap.”

“Oh,” Kate replied with a frown. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. Are you alright?”

“Just tired.”

“Then you should get some rest,” she told her. “I know as much as anyone how hard this shit can be. I was just going to ask if you wanted to play Uno anyway.”

Not one to hide her intentions, Kate looked genuinely guilty for bothering her which in turn made America also feel a bit guilty for snapping at her. Her girlfriend was sidelined from the thing she loved to do most and thus was bored and quite possibly lonely, being alone all day while she was on a mission.

“One round,” she said.

Kate smiled brightly. “Really?”

“But you better not cheat this time,” she accused. “I don’t know how you get away with it, but I’m absolutely certain that you’re cheating. Nobody is able to win  _ every single time _ .”

She snorted. “I just have mad skills, babe.”

“Absolutely not,” she replied with a shake of her head. “Somehow, you’re cheating. I bet Barton taught you.”

“Then explain how I beat him every time,” she attempted to reason.

“Because he’s him and you’re you. He taught you how to cheat and you were instantly able to do it better than he can. That’s that,” she replied. “Now deal me in. Wait-” she snatched the deck from Kate’s hands. “I’ll deal. And shuffle.”

Kate laughed and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re mildly ridiculous.”

* * *

Twenty-three missed text messages and five missed calls.

“Fuck,” America said in a panic as she checked her phone after a mission. “I have to get home. I think something’s wrong.”

“What happened?” Teddy asked with a frown. “Should we come with?”

She scanned through the messages and the first few were normal. Random things that Kate saw on TV and questions about potential dinner plans. Then a few were just babe. The last five consisted of only America’s name. She hadn’t even been away for that long. Only like two and a half hours.

“Fuck,” she repeated and then nodded. “I mean, it seems serious. What if someone broke in and captured her or something? What if she’s hurt?”

“Kate’s hurt?” Tommy asked with wide eyes, speeding off in the direction of their apartment before waiting for an answer.

Billy stood by her side and squeezed her arm. “We have your back. Let’s go make sure that she’s okay.”

Together, they sped back toward their apartment and stormed in from all directions, shattering windows and knocking the door of its hinges.

America entered through the bedroom and sped around, looking for any clues as to who might have taken Kate and where she might have gone. The bed was messy and unmade but that didn’t necessarily mean that Kate left in a struggle, seeing as she never made the bed anyway.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she heard Billy groan from the other room.

She rushed into the living room where she found Kate and Tommy sitting on the couch, eating pizza rolls, and watching reality TV with Lucky curled up on the couch between them. Billy was standing over them with his arms crossed, glaring at his brother.

“What?” Tommy replied with a mouth full of food.

“You couldn’t have called?” he asked. “Let us know that everything was okay and that we didn’t have to break down the  _ door _ .”

“You didn’t have to break down the door,” he said. “I mean,  _ I  _ didn’t break down the door when I came in.”

“Tommy, I swear-” he fumed.

“Babe, everyone’s okay. Let’s just calm down,” Teddy said, reaching out to Billy who sighed and nodded before leaning back into his touch.

America stepped into full view. “No, it is  _ not _ okay,” she said, directing it toward Kate. “You can’t expect me not to be worried when you leave me with a bunch of missed calls and texts that don’t specify what’s wrong. I thought you were in trouble. Or  _ worse _ .”

Tommy stood up from where he was sitting. “I think we should-” he started.

She glared at him.

“C’mon,” David said quietly, taking his arm and leading him out of the apartment, Billy and Teddy trailing behind.

“I was calling you because I _ missed you _ ,” she told her. “Is that such a crime? To miss my girlfriend when she’s gone?”

“It’s fine if you miss me. I get that. But you are an adult and you should know when you’re being excessive about trying to contact me when you know that my phone is off,” she snapped. “Kate, we’re superheroes. We have no shortage of enemies. If one of them comes here when you’re home alone, you have no way to defend yourself.”

“I’m not defenseless.” Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m a fucking badass. I don’t even have any powers and I can still hold my own as a superhero.”

“You can’t even run away right now, Kate!” she pointed out.

“I just-” she started, before dragging a hand over her face and sighing. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Look,” America said, realizing that all the yelling wasn’t helping anyone and dropping her angry tone as she sat down on the couch next to her. “I was just scared that something happened to you. I’m not actually that mad. I get that you’re lonely and super bored here alone and I would be right here with you for every moment if I could. But, unfortunately, crime doesn’t just stop when the world’s greatest archer is down for the count.”

Kate smiled softly. “I love you. I’m sorry I scared you. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

She smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I love you too.”

* * *

A few days later, America came home from visiting an old friend in another universe to a surprising sight: the door and the windows were fixed, the place was completely clean, and Kate was out of the house.

On one hand, she no longer had any plans for the night, seeing as she originally intended to clean up the place a little. On the other? She didn’t have to clean the house anymore. Overall, it was a major win.

She decided to take a shower before deciding what to do about dinner. Maybe Kate would text her by the time she was out so she could start making a plan.

The momentary quietness was nice though. She loved Kate a whole lot, but everyone needed some peaceful alone time in their home every once in a while, even if it was only for a few moments.

When she got out of the shower, she heard voices in the other room, so she quickly ducked into her bedroom to get dressed again and run a brush through her wet curls before greeting whatever company they had.

Upon reaching the kitchen, she saw a wonderful sight: Kate and all of their friends chatting and laughing and cooking. There was a blonde girl there too, a few years younger than them, who she didn’t quite recognize, but she smiled brightly when she saw her enter the room and sprang up out of her chair, extending a hand toward her.

“You must be America!” she said happily. “I’m Cassie! I worked with the team back in the day, before you met any of them.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied with a smile, shaking the girl’s hand. “I’ve heard a ton about you. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. What brings you to New York?”

She shrugged. “I mean, officially? A school trip that I signed up for. But really it was partially just because I wanted to visit Kate since I knew she got hurt and I knew my mom would never let me come if I asked straight up. I’ve been working with my dad a lot, doing hero stuff, but she was still hesitant for me to spend time with the Young Avengers after, well, you know probably.”

America nodded. She did know. Being a superhero didn’t come without its fair share of danger. “Well, I’m happy to have you while you’re in town.”

“Enough with the formalities!” Kate exclaimed. “We’re making dumplings for dinner.”

“I’m making dumplings for dinner,” Teddy corrected as he stood by the counter and chopped vegetables. “Seeing as I’m the only one of us that can actually cook.”

“I can help if you-” Billy started.

“No,” they all said in unison. He had been the cause of enough culinary disasters to warrant a permanent ban.

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Geez. Don’t say I never tried to do anything for you guys.”

“Technically David can cook,” Tommy piped in. “But apparently he’s too cool for us now so it’s all on Teddy.”

“He went home for his sister’s birthday,” Billy explained. “He’s not just ditching us randomly, as my attention-addicted brother would lead you to believe.”

She snorted, more than familiar with Tommy’s ever-constant need for attention and Billy’s need to point it out in order to seem like he craves attention any less.

Taking a seat next to Kate, she reached out and squeezed her hand as the others continued their conversation. Something about time travel.

“Did you have a good day?” she whispered.

“It was great. It’s been so long since any of us have seen Cass so it was nice to all hang out again. Sucks that she couldn’t meet David, though,” Kate said with a nod. “What about you?”

“Pretty good,” she replied. “Better when I came home to this. It’s good to see everyone and meet Cassie.”

“I think we’ve both needed some quality friend time for a while,” she said. “I’ve been severely stir crazy since I broke my ankle and I know that’s carried over to you both because of how I’ve been acting and because you’ve been trapped here caring for me.”

She shook her head. “Not trapped. Never trapped.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Thanks for cleaning the house, by the way,” she said. “I’m assuming they helped as well, so I owe them some thanks too.”

“It was really no problem,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, cleaning often sucks, but no task is too big for a bunch of superheroes working together. Especially when they genuinely enjoy each other’s company, not to come at the Avengers or anything.”

“Oh, they wish they had the family we’ve built here with our team,” she agreed.

“Who wants to help me fold the filling in?” Teddy asked.

Billy started to raise his hand and then lowered it when he felt everyone else’s eyes on him.

America rolled her eyes and stood up. “I can help.”

Kate let out a little cheer. “You got this, babe! I know for a fact you’re good with your-”

“ _ Kate _ ,” she hissed, earning only a wink from her girlfriend.

As she stood beside Teddy and folded dumplings with him, she couldn’t help but smile. She was lucky to have such great friends, such a great  _ family _ . It was amazing that they could have these moments of happy domesticity as well as so much trust in the field.

* * *

“Hey, babe,” Kate said, walking into their bedroom on one Sunday morning with a newspaper in hand. “You guys are in the paper again. And they noted that I was missing. I think the press thinks I’m dead, which will only make my comeback even more iconic.”

America’s first thought was why in the world was Kate up so early on a Sunday when she wasn’t being forced to do so. Her second thought was where the hell did she get a physical copy of the newspaper. And her third-

“Katherine Bishop,” America said, springing up out of the bed and pointing to her girlfriend accusingly. “Why the  _ fuck _ are you walking in your cast?”

She just shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Crutches are annoying. Besides, it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore. They’re moving me to the boot soon enough anyway, I’m just getting a head start.”

“A head-” she echoed, not quite believing what she was hearing. “Enlighten me, babe. When, exactly, did you become a certified medical professional. Like, I get that you’ve had a lot of free time lately but I don’t think it’s been enough to get a degree in medicine.”

“I hear what you’re saying, but I-” she started.

“Nope. Absolutely not,” America said with a shake of her head, grabbing Kate by the waist and forcing her to sit on the bed before marching into the living room and returning with her crutches in hand. “If you want to heal then you  _ need _ to do what the doctor tells you. I won’t have you sitting on your ass for an extra couple of weeks when the world needs you because you thought you were healed enough to walk around on your cast.”

She rolled her eyes a bit fondly. “You’re so dramatic.”

“I’m the dramatic one.  _ Me _ ,” she said with an eyebrow raised. “Kate, you’re been 100% dramatic every day since I met you.”

“We’re both a bit dramatic,” she corrected. “That’s why we get along so well.”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” she snapped. “Use your crutches. Or else.”

Kate cocked an eyebrow. “Or else what?”

“Or else I’ll force you to go to the doctor to get it checked,” she replied. “I know for a fact you don’t want extra appointments.”

She flopped back on the bed with a groan. “This is torture. You’re torturing me.”

“It’s all in your best interest,” she reminded her. “I know you want to be better but you can’t get any better if you don’t listen to what the doctor told you to do and let your foot heal properly. What if you did more permanent damage?”

“There is nothing in the world I hate to say more than this but you’re right, America.”

“I know I am.”

Kate shoved her lightly. “Asshole.”

“You love me.”

She smiled. “I do.”

* * *

Sometimes missions didn’t go as planned. Sometimes your girlfriend broke her ankle or the villain got away every parent in the multiverse went absolutely insane. In this case, the mission not going as planned meant abandoning all phones in a secure location (Billy and Teddy’s apartment) and an overnight stakeout at an abandoned warehouse that was believed to be housing a wanted Hydra agent because the other agent who fessed up about the location and the way to get in may have been lying. Or, as it turned out, definitely was lying because the building, upon gaining access, turned out to be absolutely empty without any sign of anyone having been there in the past ten or so years and was only locked because the person who technically owned it for the property value understandably didn’t want teenagers breaking in and partying since she lived on the other side of the country and couldn’t keep an eye on it herself.

It was frustrating to dedicate so much time to a mission and get absolutely nothing but that was the job sometimes. It had happened before and it was going to happen again. Hopefully, their next mission would be more successful.

When she finally got back to Billy and Teddy’s apartment, exhausted out of her mind, and booted up her phone, there were 39 missed calls from Kate.

“I’m not going to freak out this time,” she said, more to herself than to the rest of the team.

“What is it?” Tommy asked from where he was already laying half-asleep on the couch.

“Kate called me like 40 times,” she said. “I will not destroy my apartment this time. I simply won’t do it.”

“She’s probably just worried,” David pointed out. “You were gone for a long time without being able to respond to her.”

“But she knows that this shit happens,” she replied. “Like a similar situation happened like a week and a half before she got hurt.”

“Do you need us to come with again?” Billy asked her.

She shook her head. “No. She’s probably fine. I’m overreacting once again.”

“I can run you over there if you want,” Tommy mumbled into a pillow. “I mean, I could also sleep for 100 years, but Kate is far more important than that.”

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “No, it’s alright. I’ll just fly back now. If there’s something wrong I’ll call for backup.”

“Okay,” Teddy said with a yawn. “Tell her that we say hi and that we missed her tonight.”

Billy nodded in agreement. “We could have used her sense of humor last night. Tommy’s jokes can only be tolerated for so long.”

She looked to him for his witty response, but he had already fallen asleep.

“We could have used her an extra watch shift,” David said with a frown. “I hope she gets better soon.”

America sighed. “I do too. I’ll see you guys soon.”

And then she walked out of the building and took off, flying in the direction of her apartment.

Sure enough, when she got home, there was nothing wrong. Kate was passed out on the couch, the TV stuck on the start screen of some movie and Lucky curled up at her feet.

She looked peaceful asleep like that even though there was some chaos in it. Like, she was still in yesterday’s clothes and she certainly hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the couch, but she was still beautiful, breathing slowly in the comfort of their home.

Part of America didn’t want to wake her because she was sleeping so soundly but, at the same time, she knew that she had to let her know that she was home after all those missed calls.

“Hey,” she said softly as she brushed Kate’s hair out of her face. “I’m home.”

Her eyes slowly blinked awake and she pushed herself up in her seat. “What time is it?”

America glanced at her phone. “Like 10:30. How long have you been asleep?”

“Like three and a half hours, I think,” she told her. “I was waiting up for you but I couldn’t quite make it.”

“Sorry,” she said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “We ended up having to stake the place overnight and we didn’t have our phones on us for security reasons. You know how it is.”

“Yeah,” she replied with a nod. “Did you at least catch the assholes.”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “It was a bad tip. We spent the night staking out a normal old abandoned warehouse.”

“Ugh,” Kate groaned. “That’s the  _ worst _ . I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “It happens. We missed you know. You’re definitely the key piece that holds us together on missions like this. And not just because it means we all get like 15 more minutes of sleep.”

“I miss being on missions.”

“I know,” she replied with a frown. “It sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Shit happens,” she said. “Sorry for calling you so many times, by the way. I know I told you that I wouldn’t do that again. It’s just that, well, it’s stupid.”

“I doubt it’s stupid.”

Kate sighed. “I’ve been like  _ super _ worried about you every time you leave for a mission,” she confessed. “Like we were so lucky for a long time and nobody got hurt or anything. But then I hurt my ankle and it reminded me of when Cassie fucking  _ died _ on a mission and I know what we do is important and, believe me, I can’t wait to get back into it but I’ve just been thinking about it and like what if you got hurt and I wasn’t there to help you? What if you  _ died _ and it was because I wasn’t there to help you.”

She frowned and sat down on the floor next to the couch and laid her head down on the space next to Kate’s. “First of all, if anything happened to me, it wouldn’t be your fault whether you were there or not. Secondly, the Young Avengers aren’t a team of two. The others have my back and are there to help me if I need it. Sometimes freak shit happens but it’s going to happen whether you’re there or not. That’s the fact of the job. It’s the risk we agree to take if it means that we get to go out there and help people every day. But, regardless, I’m not going to die. Hate to break it to you, Princess, but you can’t get rid of me  _ that  _ easily.”

“If only I’d be so lucky,” she joked before turning her head to kiss her softly.

“You’ll be out there with us soon enough,” America reminded her. “Cast comes off tomorrow.”

“And then a few weeks in the boot,” Kate groaned. “Sure, I’ll be able to walk again but there’s no way I’m jumping back into the field while I’m shackled to  _ that  _ thing.”

“You’d slow us down anyway,” she said with a shrug. “Seeing as you’ve just been sitting on your ass and eating junk food for the past few weeks.”

“Excuse me, asshole. I was  _ healing _ .”

“And after tomorrow you’ll be walking around in the boot and starting to get ready to get back into the field,” she told her. “At least start lifting again. You’re gorgeous with or without extremely well-defined arms but I’d like to seem them make a reappearance.”

“Oh my god,” Kate gasped turning to her in horror. “I’ve been out of practice for weeks. Do you realize what that means?”

“What does it mean?”

` “It means that Clint is probably a better archer than me now!” she exclaimed, sitting up straighter.

Lucky barked at the sound of Clint’s name.

“Yeah, I know, bud,” Kate said, running a hand through his fur. “It’s an absolutely terrifying thought. At least I’m still the more attractive one.”

“And you always will be,” she replied.

“Can I get up and start training now?” she asked.

“If you’re training from a sitting position. I don’t think it would be that easy to shoot a bow on crutches,” she pointed out.

“I’m getting the boot tomorrow. The cast is basically-” she started.

America kissed her to make her shut up. “Don’t test me, Princess. Not while we’re both this exhausted.”

“I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty motivated now. Think I’m ready to get up for the day,” she told her. “Who needs sleep anyway?”

“You. Both of us,” she replied. “Now, do you want to come to bed and cuddle.”

She smiled softly. “Of course I do. Carry me?”

America sighed and scooped her up in her arms. Sure, she was tired but how could she deny her girlfriend such a simple request?

She carried her into the room with Lucky trailing behind them and they climbed into bed, the three of them all snuggled up together.

America couldn’t help but be grateful for everything she had. She didn’t think about it all the time since they weren’t married and that wasn’t even on the table at the moment (they were still so long and they weren’t, say, Billy and Teddy) but this was her family. Not just in the sense that her friends were family, but in the more literal sense. She got to come home and see Kate and her dog, their dog now probably, every day. Sometimes bad things would happen to them like broken ankles and stupid fights and sometimes they would get so frustrated with each other that they might argue about every little thing, but in the end, their love was so much bigger than that,  _ stronger _ than that. 

It was comforting knowing that she would always have this.


End file.
